Working at CIMS from Home
Early September 2020, it was my first day working at CIMS, which I considered to be, for lack of a better term, my first “big boy job”. It was also several months deep into a global pandemic that stunted everyone’s life in one way or another, which meant that my first day at CIMS would be spent sitting in front of my computer at home. It was a bittersweet day to say the least.
I imagine many people have shared this experience; having what they pictured as milestone life events rendered less exciting by the aforementioned pandemic. It’s something that we’ve had to get used to and something that I imagine everyone is looking forward to moving past.
Still, there was work to be done. I quickly fell into a daily routine of working from home that I still generally follow. I wake up, make some coffee, boot up my laptop, work, and then spend the rest of my day how I want to (if I can). I’ll admit, sometimes the monotony takes its toll on my mood, but mostly I just feel exceedingly fortunate to be doing what I do and that my work can be done from home.
Despite the gratitude I have for my job, sometimes I still feel like I’m missing out. It’s hard not to when every second CIMS team member that’s experienced working in the lab on Carleton’s campus talks about how fun it is. A particularly “aww man I really really wish I was working in the lab instead of in my bedroom right now”-inducing statement came from CIMS Associate Faculty member Katie Graham in the CIMS Interview Series conversation I was lucky enough to have with her.
“I miss the people, and the sense of community. There’s something about CIMS, it’s alive. Like when you go into CIMS on a regular day and you go into, let’s say, “The Big Room” and then all of a sudden there’s a whole bunch of axes lying on the back because someone’s doing a research project where they’re taking photos of axes. Or you go and you see all these other artifacts. All of CIMS, not even just the people, is like a cabinet of curiosities of heritage and experimentation and documentation. Just really kind of the evolution of technologies that we’ve tried. The people too, it’s just amazing to sit down with them and hear about someone’s interest in making pasta to someone else playing the piano randomly. It’s an amazing and alive experience to be there.”
sigh in a world of sterile daily routines and necessary isolation from others, this is one of the most enticing things I have ever read about a workplace. That being said, CIMS is so “alive” that a lot of its energy has bled into the cyber-workspace we now inhabit.
CIMS is chock-full of creativity and fun. It seems that fun and creativity are intrinsically linked to CIMS’ culture, along with hard work and passion for putting out groundbreaking research creation projects obviously ;). This is especially apparent in the things created through the ongoing CIMS “just for fun” project prompts. In October, there was a pumpkin carving contest featuring both physical and virtual pumpkins, In December, a gingerbread house making contest, and most recently a “working from home 1 year anniversary” content creation prompt.
By Lauren Daniels
Amazing content creation like the masterpiece above and things like the kittychat channel on CIMS’ Slack, a channel devoted entirely to sharing pet cat content (which is extremely active, like pretty much every day there’s new cat content.), have been imperative in keeping a rather bleak situation light. You can take CIMS out of the lab, but you can’t take the lab out of CIMS. I know that’s a cliché, but it’s a pretty decent cliché and it works well in this situation so I’m standing by it.
So, going forward, I’ll be looking to updates in the lives of CIMS’ cat companions to aid me in feeling in tune with the work I’m doing for the lab that I’m trying to do justice by on social media and the internet; and until I meet my coworkers in person, I have no doubt that the energy and enthusiasm they put into their work and their projects for fun will keep me inspired and chugging along in this bizarre pandemic world we’re all living in. I never thought I’d be writing that down un-ironically, but I’m kind of glad that I am. I hope that in this new year of pandemic life you’ve found sources of inspiration and optimism like I’ve been so lucky to.
Take care everyone!